Purrfect
by NellietheMarvelous
Summary: Just a fluffy feel good fic about what happens when the loft gains a few occupants. With fur. Rated for later chapters.


**Disclaimer: Nope.  
**

**A/N: This is a little AU thing I've been working on. Castle and Beckett are the only occupants of the loft. They're still engaged though and as of right now, it has about 4 chapters. This is just the short little intro...more to come. ;) And rating is for later chapters.  
**

Her lips tug, a smile blooming as her brain fights off the heavy sleep weighing over her body. She hugs the pillow tighter, smashes her face into it, not wanting to open her eyes just yet. It feels nice, the warmth, the numbness in her limbs but there's a sharp coolness reigning in, the blankets slipping and she's awake enough to know why, to lay blame. She knows before the silky heat ever presses against the back of her neck, before dexterous fingers sweep her hair to the side. And before she hears that voice invade her ears - a rich velvet that has her nerves buzzing.

"Good Morning."

She shakes her head, telling him no and keeps her eyes firmly shut as he ghosts his hand down her bare back. It's still dark. She hasn't peeked but she can tell it isn't light out yet.

She can ignore him for a little while, keep her body relaxed and her cheek pressed into the softness the pillow willingly offers. Her mind already drifting, muddling, dancing the line between waking and slumber. But she jumps, skin fluttering alight with the press of his mouth at the top of her spine. Open and moist. A kiss that he knows will make it impossible for her to slip back into sleep.

Another press of his mouth, just a bit lower...and another that has her squirming against the mattress, his tongue tracing the ridge of her spine, the curve of her back. His hands already divesting her of the warm comforter, exposing her to the air, making her eyes fly open and her lips part on a curse. She can feel his smile against her skin, curses again just because he's a smug "jackass" and he retaliates, his teeth nipping into her side, a pinch that has her moaning, shifting her hips.

She wants to roll over, feel his mouth against the front of her body but she can't. She's glued beneath him, those lips dancing down her back, open wet kisses that have her wanting to crawl out from under him, flip him, take control. And the moment she wiggles, presses her thighs together and braces herself, he's gone. The mattress moving as he just sails out of bed.

She stares at him, turning onto her side and letting him look at the view she's offered. Wanting to know where he thinks he's going but she doesn't ask, just raises an eyebrow after letting her eyes travel the length of his body.

"I don't want to burn your breakfast."

"It's dark out, we have nowhere to be." He doesn't move, undeterred by her seductive tone and bedroom eyes. The sleepy lilt as she trips over words. She wants to whine, get him back in bed but she won't.

"Just let me finish the food, we have all day."

She grumbles and buries her face back into the pillow. But that's the problem. They have all day. An entire day and he's waking her before the sun even peeks above the horizon. And now there's no way she'll be able to fall back asleep. He's ruined it.

With a sigh, she pushes herself up, forces herself to just vacate the bed. The shirt on the floor - his - becomes her wardrobe, she shrugs it on over her head and lets the cotton rest against her skin. Smells like him. She catches herself inhaling, shakes her head and stares at the ring on her finger. He's ruined everything she once knew but it's not a bad thing. He makes it better.

She's a softie, unable to ever really tell him no and when she hears the scratching, the commotion coming from their bathroom it only reminds her of what they got themselves into. She'd forgotten. Until now with the little noises and scuffling bringing it all back. The rain. The box. The fact that he was _hiding _it in the precinct and she _caught _him.

And that boyish pride on his face when he showed her what was inside, the kiss he gave when she told him to take that box home and get it out of the twelfth. At the time, she hadn't really been thinking of anything more than saving his hide but now, now she's thinking of what this means.

As her legs carry her over, her hand twisting the knob and pushing against the door until it opens, she wonders what he's thinking. She slinks in quickly, closing the door and staring at the floor for a second. Waiting but nothing happens. Her eyes scan the shelves, the counter for anything with fur, anything that walks on four paws.

She feels it, the brush of something against her leg, the warm weight that settles on the top of her foot, pushing into her toes and she glances down at the ragged little kitten. A black ball of fluff that meows up at her, sitting on her foot and tilting its head. She doesn't want to scare it, tries her best to slowly crouch down and offer her hand.

A nose pushes against her fingers, a sandpaper tongue poking out to lick at her and she rewards the little one with a scratch under the chin. She waits, knows the purring will start and as soon as it does, it's as if she signed a peace treaty with the kitten. Another comes, white with black paws and a spot over the eye. She'll call it Patch for the moment.

"Hey there," Her voice makes them jump, startles both as a third creeps out from behind the toilet. A tiny thing. Smaller than the two at her feet, nudging at her hand. A limp hinders the kitten's step and she's powerless to resist. It's hurt and she's reaching before it can run, gently wrapping her hand around and lifting it to her chest as she drops to sit against the tile.

It squawks at her, a loud meow that signals distress and instead of letting it go, she cuddles closer, rubs her fingers over the smooth silky fur. She tries to ease the fear staring back at her with wide blue eyes. Brings the little wiggling body to rest against her chest, her heart aching for the cat.

"Shhh, s'okay. You're safe." Claws dig into her skin as the little mouth opens, ears twitching with the meow that seems entirely too loud for such a tiny thing. And she feels the tug in her chest. They didn't even talk about this but it's already set, her mind made up and the moment this little fur ball nudges a nose against her chin, she's a goner. "You're so small."

Maybe the weight of a feather in her hands. Scrawny and ribs visible. All three of them malnourished. Two pushing their paws into her legs and this one, this tiny little being sniffing at her skin. A touch so very different than the one she woke to and somehow just a special.

There's no knock, just a twist of the doorknob before her fiance pokes his head through the door and she gives him a smile, her fingers petting against the calming kitten. She didn't mess with them much yesterday but now she doesn't want to put this one down, she wants it to be okay.

"Breakfast is -" She plows over him with words, rambles.

"We need to get them food - maybe even some formula, I don't think this one is big enough and a bed, they need something warm to sleep in. Oh and collars, but we should probably check and see if they're boys or girls first and this one -"

"Beckett,"

"...has something wrong with it, the leg I think but -"

"Kate," She pauses at the sound of her name. The whisper of it. The way he's looking at her as if she's somehow given him something amazing and she doesn't really understand. Not until he smiles. "I take it we're keeping them?"

"If you want."

She tries to play it off, tell him that it's okay if he doesn't. But they both know the truth. They gained three new occupants the moment Castle found that ratty box. He's the man with the heart of gold and she's the woman that protects it. And now three kittens need them and she has a soft spot for animals. How could she ever say 'no' to any of them?


End file.
